Dana 44 Whine

offset tapered 44. from a 68 CJ5

seems to me that there is excessive amount of whine there. i pulled the drain plug, oil is to the top of the allowable fill level. it does smell burnt/gross, but i chalk that up to the friction modifier?

why would it be whining so much? i had initially thought it was the tcase, but when the wife drives, i can check stuff out more, really sounds like the rear axle.

thoughts?

 

Bad bearing (probably pinion) or gears not set up correctly

 

If it has friction modifier then it is a positrack or a track lock?

 

I'd go to the yoke. Does it move up and down, in and out, excessive gear lash when rotating? Pulling the cover would be next.

 

I changed out the pinion seal a few months back.
I chalked up where the nut aligned.
When I tightened it, I tightened it up so those marks lined back up.

Is it possible that it is a full rotation loose? I wouldn't think so.

 

Will check first thing. After work I'll remove the drive shaft and wiggle test it

 

If the wiggle test does not show any movement you can detect, Do you have a dial indicator? If so set it up on the center of the pinon end before trying to tighten the nut., try rotating the pinion left and right a few degrees. If the bearings are loose the pinion will move in and out as you reverse the rotation back and forth (with rear wheels off the ground).Any in and outward movement it too much.

 

After the wiggle test I will bust out my indicators!

 

Fwiw Mine started howling after I flat towed it two hours without oil...

Ring and pinion weren't hardened anymore. Among other issues.

 

i haven't done that....yet. thankfully i have a truck and trailer.

 

Ok. I removed the driveshaft.
There appears to be less than 1/16" wiggle room, rotation wise. But zero play up down, left right in or out. For a known good I checked my fc, other jeep and parts jeep, they are all like that. I put the rear end up and spun what I could, but there isn't a good/flat surface to indicate off of when you spin the yoke.

I was able to tighten down the yoke nut.

 

When I changed my oil seal (15) I did not change a gasket (14).

I do see evidence of oil slinging up onto the underbody, and also some oil is present around the seal.

 

I would actually torque the pinion nut to the specification in the manual. Off the top of my head, I think that is 180-200 foot pounds. If it still whines, I’d certainly pull the cover to see what may be happening. If it wasn’t whining before the seal replacement then something odd happened. Go figure. Coincidence?

 

Has this jeep had either axle end under water?

 

Looked for that spec did not see it.

Not since I've owned it

 

I'd pop the cover. You probably need new oil anyway. Look for anything like discoloration (hot), chips, etc. Then rotate by hand. Next I would run a gear pattern, check backlash with a dial indicator, if that's acceptable, 4 bolts and the carrier is out (after axle shafts), then you can check bearings.

 

these guys (6/12)?



if i pull the pinion out, am i better to just replace these bearings since its all apart?

 

I would, and you might as well get a set up kit, (all bearings, seal, shims, new pinion nut, and marking compound). You will need a press to get that inner pinion bearing on/off.

 

This all seems kind of drastic, and a lot of work, based solely on a relatively uncertain source of a noise.

 

Yep. If there isn't anything amiss when you pull the cover and you can't use the gear lube as a substitute for metal flake paint, sort of silly pulling it all apart. Probably has better bearings in it than anything you can buy now.